BILLINGS, Mont. – The MSU Billings softball team played its first 23 games of the season on the road, including a nine-day, 14-game road trip extravaganza that ended the first week of March. Since then the team has been idle, but Saturday marks the opening of the home season as the Yellowjackets are set to host a four-game series against Great Northwest Athletic Conference opponent Simon Fraser.
 
Head Coach Lisa Allen is looking forward to Saturday's opening games, and the Yellowjackets play 16 of the 26 remaining regular-season games at Avitus Group Stadium. "It is always great to get home," Allen said. "Our team plays very well at home and we expect them to continue that tradition. We have learned a lot about ourselves and our teammates over the past couple of weeks after spending so much time together on the road. We are looking for the team to use what they have learned and to continue to become better throughout the rest of the season."
 
In GNAC competition, MSUB split its opening series with Western Washington finishing 2-2. On Day 1 the team lost 4-3 and won 11-6, and on Day 2 the team lost 5-4 in 11 innings. Game 4 had to be continued the following day where MSUB took the final game in the series against the Vikings 11-3.
 
"We thought the team played very well against WWU," Allen said. "We learned to play extra innings and how important it is to push the runner across the plate with runners in scoring position. We thought the team responded very well after losing the first game on both days at WWU."
 
MSUB had a tougher time in Lacey, Wash., against Saint Martin's. The Yellowjackets started the series with a 13-1 loss, came back for a 4-2 win, but lost both games on Day 2 by scores of 9-3 and 5-0.
 
"At SMU we would have liked a better showing," Allen commented on the team's last outing. "Sometimes with a long road trip and high expectations your emotions can get the best of you and I believe that is what happened to us that weekend. It was only one weekend though and we look to move past it. We are working on fine-tuning the team's mechanics at the box and on the field. We would like to get back to having better at bats at the plate, and communicating more as a team when on defense."
 
Four Yellowjackets are batting north of .350 on the season, and senior Taylor Hoke is first on the team at .403 and sixth in the conference. Hoke is second in the GNAC in RBIs with 21, and her slugging percentage is third-best in the conference at .639. Sophomore Kelsey Devlin is second on the team and 11th in the conference batting .379.
 
Batting .358, conference home run leader Emily Osborn struck her sixth home run of the season against Western Washington. She is also just above Hoke in total bases at 48 on the season and in slugging percentage at .716.
 
Second baseman Aubrey Conceicao improved her batting average in the eight opening conference games. She is now batting 12th-best in the conference at .375, is seventh in RBIs with 17, and has two triples on the season.
 
Jessyka MacDonald has 49 strikeouts on the season so far for the Yellowjackets. She is third in the conference in strikeouts while fifth overall in the GNAC in innings pitching at 63 2/3 innings. She has pitched seven complete games for MSUB, with five wins and one save.
 
With the GNAC changing game scheduling last year, MSUB only sees each opponent once during the season. That means having already faced two GNAC schools, these four games coming up marks the end of the first half of conference play for the Yellowjackets.
 
"We have hit hard on the fact that we will only get to see each team one time during the season," Coach Allen said on the importance of each and every conference game during the season. "The next potential time we can see them is at the conference tournament and that is our goal. The team has been handling that fact much better this year."
 
Saturday, DH starting at 1 p.m. – Avitus Group Stadium
Sunday, DH starting at 12 p.m. – Avitus Group Stadium
Simon Fraser University Clan
 
Simon Fraser is an even 10-10 on the season and is 1-3 in the GNAC. The Clan opened the conference schedule with two-straight losses to Central Washington at home, but split with Western Oregon on the road last Friday. The team had a doubleheader scheduled with Saint Martin's for March 15, but the games had to be postponed due to weather.
 
Last season, SFU finished last in the conference standings, but was without ace pitcher Kelsie Hawkins who had to sit out the season with an injury. This year the senior is back and holds a 6-1 record on the mound with a conference-leading 1.51 ERA. In the win over Western Oregon, Hawkins pitched a complete game of 10 innings, holding the Wolves to three runs and fanning 11, which leads the conference in a single-game appearance this season.
 
The Clan is batting .293 as a team which puts them at sixth in the conference. At the top of that list is junior Alex Baylak who sits at seventh in the GNAC batting .400. Behind her are junior Rachel Proctor at .365 and freshman infielder Taylor Lundrigan who is batting .344 at the plate. Lundrigan leads the team in home runs with four, and total bases with 35.
 
The Series: MSU Billings is 13-7 all-time against Simon Fraser. The Yellowjackets are 5-3 at home.
 
Last Time Out: Last season MSUB won all three games on the road against the Clan. The team totaled 35 runs across the three games including winning Game 1 14-7 in eight innings.
 
"The games this weekend should be very exciting to watch," Allen said. "Simon Fraser is a good offensive team and they will not give up during the game. Fans will get to see some excellent Division II college softball this weekend!"